Demonslayers
by Lady Krimson
Summary: Crossover with my version of Bushido Blade 2 and DMC. The Japanese demonslayer Tachibana Sakura is reassigned by her grandmaster to aid Dante in his fight. Reviewing is encouraged. I don't bite (but Sakura does!)
1. Reassigned

Reassigned 

_"Are you out of your mind, Sakura?" Dante wraps his arms around me.  Oh, Buddha, it feels so good and I've waited so long . . .  "I've always felt something for you."_

_ He goes in for a kiss- the very thing I've so desperately for the last five years._

"Hey, Sakura, get out of bed!"  Utamaru bangs on the bedroom door, shattering the dream.  Dammit, wolfboy!  Could you have waited for a damned minute?! 

"I was enjoying that dream, you know!"  I snap.  I think I was going to get laid!  Dreams are the only way I've gotten more than some jerk's phone number for the last six months.  Grr. . .

"You can go back to sleep after you talk to Hiiragi-sama."  Utamaru obviously expected me to snap at him as I look at the alarm clock.  Ohh . . . It's four in the morning.  Did I really just get in two hours ago?  

"He wants you in his chambers as soon as you can shower, get dressed, and pack for about a month of fighting somewhere remote."  My favorite werewolf continues.

"Give me an hour."  It'll take less than that, but I desperately need some sleep.  That last Narukagami had a supernatural parent and I've got a bad blood hangover from it. 

It takes about half an hour to get the shower and pack.  I don't bother with getting dressed before I crawl into bed.  My now-trademark dark teal Chinese dress, black leggings, and Mai's famous red scarf are just sitting on the chair across from me.   Maybe I'll get to finish off that wonderful dream about Dante . . .

It doesn't even feel like I even closed my eyes before Utamaru's back.  "It's time." 

I slip into my clothes and stagger out of bed.  

Á  Ã     À      Ã     Á

Daina-sama is wide awake and looked like he'd been for hours.  I've heard he doesn't sleep and it looks true to me. Hell, he was eating breakfast!  I could use more than the last slice of a three-day-old pizza (a miracle in itself, considering the bunch I live with) I took out of the refrigerator before I left.  

"Good morning, Sakura," He greets.  "I am sorry to wake you so early, but something vitally important has come to my attention."

That didn't bode well for the rest of my housemates.  Normally, when something of vital importance comes to our grandmaster's attention, it means that there's going to be a huge fight and more than a few people are going to get killed before it ended.   "Will the guys get involved in this?"  I see the full magnitude of what I'd been called in about in his eyes and get scared. 

"Not unless something happens to you." That gives me an idea of how highly Hiiragi Daina thinks of my skills.  

"You are to go to Mallet Island and enter the castle there." This _really_ didn't sound good.  "You will join Dante Sparda there and accompany him until either the battle ends or you both lack the strength to continue."

Dante!  "When does the plane leave?" I'd brought my pack in with me and I was already wearing Chimaburesakura and Suiken through the scarf around my waist. 

"You have two hours."  Daina knew I was exhausted.  "In that time, I suggest you eat something and get all the sleep you can."

He's not quite finished with me as I turn to go.  "Sakura, be very, very careful."

I gulp.  Is it _that_ bad?

"Mai's assassin will be waiting in the castle." Ias he really giving me a shot at revenge- a shot that not even her sister could get?  "Kill him as slowly and painfully as you can."

Á  Ã      À       Ã      Á

Kaun and James are awake when I get back to the house we all share.  Kaun is busily fixing breakfast and I can hear my favorite Irishman warbling away in the shower upstairs.

Utamaru is still up; as I discover when Jamie hits a note the werewolf isn't fond of.  "How much money's it gonna take to shut you up?"

"More than ye've got."  Jamie replies.  I can't help but laugh.  

Kaun notes my pack and the fact that I'm already armed.  "You're on another mission, Sakura?"  Not really a question.  "May I ask who your partner is?"

"Dante Sparda."  I reply coolly, knowing that the fact I was going into battle with Dante would rankle a bit.  To quote James MacCaullay, "They're friends about half the time.  T'other half o'the time, they can't stand each other."  That's partly because (I have the sneaking suspicion), Dante likes me as more than a friend and Kaun just happens to be in his way. (Ex or not, Kaun is _not_ going to let a half-devil get his hands on me- even if he is one of his friends!)

That stung him a bit.  "And I suppose you're be all alone?"

"Unless one of us can't get up."

A deep sigh of concern and quite possibly disgust.  "I wish you didn't possess your formidable reputation."

"Or that Dante didn't possess his." I was teasing him.  "I have to be gone in an hour and a half."  

His expression fell as he almost dropped the wok.  "Daina sent you out on a mission that will most likely kill you without contacting your family!?!"  That was a lot more than a friend's concern, despite the fact that it'.

"Does it look like I've got any kind of a choice?"  I knew his icy facade was quickly coming apart, but one of us had to hold up. "I was already assigned to this before I crawled out of bed."  Unbidden, the image of my best friend trying to talk to me as she crumpled with the devil's sword through her chest came flying to the front of my mind.  "Daina's given me a clear shot at the hellspawn that sent Mai to her grave.  He's in that castle and not even Hirari's gotten the chance to go after him."

He remembered that awful night all too well.  "Have you forgotten how easy it was for him to kill her?"  He lost it and I saw a tear.  "I still have nightmares about what he would have done to you!" 

This wasn't for me – it was for Mai.  "Why do you think I've trained so damned hard and gone after every demon I can find in the last six months?  It certainly isn't because I like staying out until dawn.  Every one that I kill leads me a little closer to _him_ and when he dies, Mai can rest."

James came down the stairs in the midst of Kaun starting to cool off as breakfast started to burn.  Did I say "starting to burn"?  I meant starting to carbonize or, -if you live with us- Utamaru-level burning.  I have yet to meet a werewolf who can cook well.  

"Are ye tryin' to burn the house down?"  He snapped Kaun's attention back to the blackening stir-fry.  

A trademark noise of utter dismay as he scrambled to turn the stove off and get the wok into the sink and cool it off.  A nervous laugh.  "No."  

"What's got your head on backwards?" Perfect vintage Highwayman- direct and not exactly polite by the standards of his Japanese housemates. 

"Sakura has been temporarily reassigned.  By herself."

I curl up on the couch, trying to sleep as I think about Mai.  Are you sitting on a cloud, watching over me right now? Are you out there somewhere, tormented by this and crying for revenge?  Are you sitting on that tombstone in the graveyard where all we descendants of the Samurai Spirits will someday rest, lonely for a friend to join you?  Are you roaming that castle and tugging on Dante's coat?  Or are you just lying in that cold grave – a grave I should rightly be occupying? 

Either way, my blood sister, would you mind coming here and wrapping your wings around me?

Á  Ã      À       Ã      Á

On the plane, my waking thoughts are still with Mai.  Is she crying for vengeance- as Hirari would have, or is she busy trying to console her grieving family- especially her mother?   I have not seen Hattori Kaede since Mai's funeral, when she gave me my best friend's scarf, but I have heard that she is not taking the death of her youngest and favorite child well at all.  I have even heard whispers that she has lost her sanity – whispers I pray are only malicious gossip.

As for Hirari, she hates me for what I could not prevent that awful night.  I dread the night her fury and hatred become too much for her to bear.  She would be all too happy to send me into the grave to join her sister.  Or is there something much more beneath her cold façade?  Is there something her pride will not allow her to show-or even feel?  I know she dearly loved her little sister, but possesses a great deal of her father's distinct to keep the rest of the world- including her family- at arm's length for fear of losing them. 

The woman next to me- who strongly resembles my mother- knows I am deeply upset.  "Is everything all right?"  She asks, concerned.  

"As long as I don't think about my best friend or her family."  I couldn't lie to her.  I'm too damned tired.  Even if I weren't, it's very hard to lie to a woman resembles your mother- the mother you haven't seen since your baby sister was christened. 

When this whole mess is over- if I live to see the end of it- I'm going back home to my own family and era.  I hope I can spend at least a year there and straighten out this mess called the last three years.  

Buddha, Sasame's fifteen, Akira's twelve, Mirei just turned eight, and baby Suzaku turns four in three months. Nothing to me can be worse than seeing the sister I held in my arms for her christening and when I come home four years later, she looks up at me, then looks at our mother and asks who the strange lady who looks like her is, not realizing that it's her big sister.  

I hang my head to cry.  I'm such a bad daughter . . .  

Fortunately, the woman next to me has gone back to sleep and doesn't hear me or see the tears streaming down my face.   Sometime shortly afterward, I fall asleep and wake to her gently shaking me.  

"We've landed, dear."  She says, not seeing the traces of dried tears on my cheeks.  "The ferry to Mallet Island's already waiting.  Although I have no idea why a girl like you would want to go there.  The place is full of ghosts."

This time, I feel good enough to lie to her.  "I have an interest in old castles, even haunted ones."  She's a normal human- she doesn't need to know that I am the Tachibana Sakura who mysteriously disappeared in 1815, that I slay demons for a living, that I have my swords hidden in my luggage well enough to pass even the United States' neurotic security checks- one of Shainto's best tricks-, or even that she's talking to someone who isn't just a pretty girl with strangely dyed hair.  There are some things – a lot of them, actually- that the world of skyscrapers, tourists, and reality television shouldn't know about.


	2. Sakura Explains

Disclaimer: I do not own Devil May Cry, Samurai Shodown,  Rising Zan, or the Bushido Blade series.  Let's just say that a few boys wouldn't get to go adventuring much if I did.

I'll take a wild guess that if you haven't been traveling with me on this six-year journey called my dealings with Shainto, you are sitting there, scratching your head, and thinking  "Who the fuck are you, you blue-haired freak, and what the hell are you talking about?" 

All right, you guys, I'll talk.  And have caffeine on hand as well as a thinking cap on you head- because this might be painful otherwise. 

My name is Tachibana Sakura (We Japanese use our surnames first).  I am the daughter of Tachibana Ukyo and Odagiri Kei (All of you acquainted with Samurai Shodown know who they are, right?) and the oldest of their five children. Sasame, my younger brother (And my personal favorite- don't tell Akira or Mirei I said that!), is fifteen, followed by twelve-year-old Akira (He can really be a pain in the ass), my eight-year-old sister Mirei- in whose eyes I can do no wrong-, and baby (at least she was the last time I was home)  Suzaku.  The seven of us live in a big house on Gairyu Isle with lots of servants and fellow Shainto.  (You really think that Kounoshima was the only place we Shainto gather?  I don't think that _any_ of the four hundred people on Gairyu aren't at least affiliated with the swords school!)

Fortunately, (Or maybe _un_fortunately) for the five of us, our father became a vampire to cure his consumption in 1790 and married our mother a year later.  All five of us have "contracted" vampirism (it's perfectly natural for us) in some form or another. Unless you're really active, sick (which doesn't happen very often) or badly hurt (Even Mama-chama fights when called to it), the need for blood isn't so bad. 

More often than not, our "affliction" is a boon- granting better speed, strength, judgement, and special abilities when called upon (Sasame and I can control water by force of will and shapeshift).  Our family's unique fighting style- the Tachibana stance (an iaijutsu - sword in the sheath until attacking or defending- stance facing away from the opponent and making full use of magic, lightning-quick killstrikes, and diving attacks) is one of the most venerated and difficult postures to adopt in a fight (it also looks damn good in the eyes of a camera or mirror). 

Technically, every Tachibana is a member of Shainto - the sword school violently opposed to the Narukagami and the demons plaguing this world of tears- at birth, but we only become active members when we master our family's famous fighting style.  I mastered it at the tender age of fourteen- six years ago.  

Our grandmaster, Hiiragi Daina , quickly took notice of my skill and paired me with a cocky, platinum-haired yari master named Narazu Kaun – who is also not quite human , launching me – at least part of the time (control over time is only one of our school's many secrets bequeathed by the gods) into the present era.  

It was there – in 1998- that I first discovered many things that Gairyu Isle and dusty books could not teach me.   For one thing, I quickly discovered that there are fanatics who want anything of supernatural blood wiped off the face of the earth.   Pizza, chocolate, (I grew up on a tiny island in the early nineteenth century!) anime, video games, technological magic (you can hex someone through email), and boys came a bit later.

Fortunately for Kaun, I was skilled with more than knocking his ego back where it belonged, as we both discovered two years later when we encountered the deadly Narukagami warrior Black Lotus (now known to us as James "Jamie"  MacCaullay or Highwayman) and I more than held my own.  We quickly became friends after that, which is how I met the werewolf Utamaru and the American half-devil Dante Sparda.  

Fate had different plans than what three rowdy supernatural adolescents had in mind a year later.  In a rapidly culminating crisis to destroy everything Shainto has worked so hard to preserve, we were called to Riten Kyo in the year 1810 on a mission to stop the Hagyo Razor Trio.  Utamaru was nearly killed and I made a sacrifice that I still regret some days.  I allowed Kuki Tohma- a full-blooded vampire- to "turn" me, taking away the last half of my humanity in order to destroy him, Mikoto, and Oboro- the Hagyo Razor Trio.

Kan and I had a massive falling-out when I returned to our inn of choice and he realized what I had become.  I was reassigned to a tiny town in 1840's Nevada – Gold City – where I met the Super Ultra Sexy Hero, Rising Zan (Funny ass name, isn't it?) and became embroiled in Shainto affairs once again as well as a brief, disastrous relationship with Zan (whose ridiculously overblown ego I cold not deflate in time to save his life).

 I spent the next three months at home and found my life filled with joy as my baby sister Suzaku greeted the world before I was called back to Kaun's era- the year 2001- to avenge the sorrow of our ancestors.  It was here that things really got crazy as my era and his crossed.  My blood-sister (best friend) Hattori Mai (youngest daughter of ninjas Hanzo and Kaede – also of the Samurai Shodown saga) and her older sister Hirari (Japanese version of Hillary, named for the Samurai Spirit Hisame Hillary nee Hillary Mullins.)

Six months ago, a devil named Nelo Angelo decided that Mai and I made good sword targets.  I was powerless to stop him when he crept up from behind and ran his massive sword through my best friend's chest.  Now, Hiiragi Daina has assigned me to help Dante and given me a shot to avenge my beloved friend. Even if Dante were nothing more than a friend (which only he assumes – perhaps it's best that he doesn't know how he haunts my dreams), revenge is a good enough reason for me.  


	3. Battle on the Ferry

Disclaimer:  I don't own Dante and Co.

Author's note:  Thank you, (Now where'd those @$#% cookies I just made go? *catches the dog eating them*  "You're dead, Houndiwoof!") Kikoken, Lunatic Pandora1, and Cherchante for reviewing.  Reviews are going to be important later on.  As for those A's with the accent marks, they look like runic writing on Word.  

Chapter One- Battle on the Seraph 

The crew of "fishermen" Daina-sama bribed into getting me to Mallet Island is radically different than the locals I met on the airport and tourist strips.    For one thing, the boat, the _Seraph_ has a few larger weapons on it.  For another, these boys are bristling with weapons.  This is in comparison to me, who is wearing Chimaburesakura (my sentient angelic sword and lifelong friend) and Suiken (the legendary blade from the Elemental Order of Water- which I am an ordained priestess of. It's a long story and if I get downtime – which isn't likely- I'll explain.) strapped to my hips through Mai's scarf, a Berretta 9mm strapped to each thigh, and a dagger strapped to my ankle.  Even the ship's "priest" (I've never seen a Catholic priest in a bandolier and combat boots) is packing an arsenal!

These boys, while they are probably good men at heart, certainly don't look like a Boy Scout troop.  Every last one doesn't look he's seen the proper end of a razor (on his _face_, anyway- as I notice a few bandages) for at least three days.  As for their smell, it's unwashed male overlaid with heavy cologne.   

To me, this is beyond disgusting.  As for the "boys", if one of them even _considers_ touching me, expect a Japanese death glare and a backhand that wins tennis games.  

As I stand at the railing, my fingers reach up to the silver cross and Saint Christopher's medallion that a local boy gave me when he heard I was going.  As countless people (Kaun, Highwayman, my father, and my brother Sasame included) have said, I'm a rotten liar when I'm nervous about an upcoming fight.  I don't think I'll forget the look on his face after I opened my mouth anytime soon.

Á       À      Ã      À       Á

The boy was about my age and cute, not that it really matters.  I don't have the roughness necessary to drag a normal into my shadowy world. 

"That island is the Devil's castle!"  He gasped, turning pale beneath his hearty tan and frantically crossing himself.  "It would take a hundred priests to purify it!"

I felt a bit of fear then, but I'm stuck in this until its ends.  "I don't have a choice.  "My friend's in there alone."

He was touched by my devotion.  "Wear this then, lady demonslayer."  He said, taking off the silver cross and Saint Christopher's medallion to put it around my neck.  "And may God walk with you."

Á       À       Ã      À       Á

I know it's just a superstition, (Crosses and saints' medallions don't' work on Japanese demons) but I do feel better about this. At least now I don't feel so much like a fragile girl with a set of fancy swords and supernatural powers.  If nothing else, it's the feeling that someone in a land so far from my home cares enough to include me in his prayers.  But how did he know what I am?  Maybe, just maybe, he isn't just a cute Catholic boy with a big heart.

Chi (the diminutive of her long, formal name of Chimaburesakura- the name my father bestowed when he finished restoring her to fighting condition the day I was born) spoke up.  _"Do not be afraid, Sake-chan."_  She uses my diminutive as she tries to comfort me.  _"You have an angel at your side."_

_Thanks, Chi._ It feels good to have someone's prayers with you, but it's a lot better to have a lifelong friend at your side until the end

Suiken stays quiet. Even after a year of dealing with me, she has no idea how to compete.  Hopefully, she'll get more vocal inside the castle.

After a long thinking spell, Suiken finally comes up with something to say.  _"Where's the captain?  We should've met him by now._

_ I'll bet the boys carved him into bite-sized pieces and threw him to the sharks. _I reply sarcastically.  I've already got the feeling that this is a ship of demon hunters that barely got into port before shipping out again.

Wait a minute  . . . Something decent this way comes . . . I can sense his aura- he's obviously the boss and a bit of a dandy.  I'm getting the picture of a Miami Mafioso- white jacket, Hawaiian shirt halfway buttoned, bad 80's hair, and worse cologne.  At least it's not as strong as what the rest of the crew wears.  Not quite . . .

The image is refining into something (a lot) more like the guy from _Shaman King_ with the _way_ over-the-top hair (That pompadour-gone-horribly-wrong lookin' thing!)  What's that guy's name?  It's hard to pay attention to their name when someone looks _that_ damned ridiculous!

_"Bokuto no Ryo." _Suiken laughingly corrects.  I wasn't the only one laughing her butt off at the character- especially not after Utamaru started commenting.

_"I'll bet he's got a Spanish accent or something 'sophisticated' and 'sexy'."_ Chi's enjoying this a little too much.  _"And after this is over, he'll try to take you back to his place."_

_Taking me back to his place is _Dante's_ job! _ I reply. 

Inside her little dwelling place, the water sprite called Suiken is grinning and giggling. Chi's smile- behind her feathered wings and innocent exterior- is knowing and naughty.

With my weapons distracted by their own randy thoughts (I know a dozen women that are going to be pissed at me when I get back to Kounoshima- especially if I get my hands on a certain half-devil!), I could greet the captain without much trouble- or commentary- from them.  One may be an angel and the other is a water sprite - but they're still female.

"My name is Fernando Aguilar and I am captain of this ship of demonslayers.  We had just gotten into port when you employer hired us."  He introduces himself, extending a hand.  Stupid accent, suave manners, and all!  Despite my amusement, I nod to confirm it as if I'm wearing an absolutely straight face.   

_"Would you like to come up to my place and have me-"_ Chi starts, mimicking his tone and accent perfectly as Suiken goes into a guffaw fit.

_Chimaburesakura!_ Of all the things, I've dealt with, a randy sword trying to be a comedienne is one of the worst.  It's just best to stop her before she can start. 

Apparently, he's heard my badly behaved weapons talking, but can't quite understand them.  "What do they think is so amusing?"  

"They're not being very ladylike."  I'm not going into any more detail about _that_ particular subject. He nods, having the sneaking suspicion what "not being ladylike" means.  

"You may want to go below decks."  Fernando continues, sounding wearied and a bit disgusted.  "Your friend – the other demonslayer- has been convincing the demons that the island is not a good place to stay."  I pick up his desire to just be able to go home for a few days and that he's getting tired of being the captain of this patrol, but there's not much he can do about it.  "I would sincerely hate to see a lady of your caliber sustain an injury on my ship."

It might have been effective on a year ago, but all I do is flash the Shainto crest that marks me as a first-class demonslayer.  "I can handle these boys."  Even the Catholic Church respects the little piece of embroidered silk and all that it means.

I sense the demons a quarter mile away- fifty yards before the men do.  They start the scramble of preparing and checking their weapons.  All right, girls, you ready to kick some demonic ass?

Two hundred yards and closing.  The men have their guns blazing – not that they're hitting much. I wonder how often Fernando has to find replacements.

One hundred yards.  The priest has noticed me at the railing, unmoving and saying something in Japanese. "Are you out of your mind, girl!"  He screams at me, thinking I'm frozen in fear and praying.  

"Get her below decks!"  The second in command orders.  

Fifty yards.  A demon bursts into eerie blue flame as it drops into the ocean, which I've been using my elemental powers to bless. I keep up the chant and cast a glance at the looks on the faces of the men as they realize what I've been doing. Better yet, the demons are starting to freak out.

Twenty-five.  I take ten paces back form the railing and smile a bit.  Out of my mind? Maybe.  Priestess of the Elemental Order of Water?  Definitely.  Confident I can hold my own against a bunch of demonic losers?  Oh, hell yeah!

Ten.  I drop into stance, the wild song of battle ringing in my ears 

Five.  You sorry excuses for trouble want some?  Bring it!  

Zero.  Heh heh heh . . . Come on . . . I promise it'll be quick and painless.  

Woo-hoo! Chi and Suiken are having a party as we slash, rip, and dice our way through a substantial crowd of winged demons and their passengers that want some of this.  (Did I ever mention how much I like to fight?)  I can only imagine how I look to a ship of amateurs- a strange, blue-haired girl tearing through this bunch like some kind of samurai goddess with her back to her foes until the fatal strike and not a hair out of place.  (No, I _don't_ use hair gel _or_ hair spray!)  They don't even have time to bleed – that waits until they're turning to dust.

The remaining demons decide that it's better to face Dante on Mallet than deal with a ship carrying a high-level demonslayer.  It's damned shame, too.  Not one of these stupid bastards qualified as a challenge.  Maybe their boss would have shown up.  

The adrenaline rush sours as the world come back into focus.    As with any battle, there is always a mess to clean up- whether it's corpses of the enemy, your own dead, or the wounded and dying men lying in their own blood. 

"They were headed for the mainland."  Fernando's voice is barely audible.  I don't even want to think about what even those demons would have done to the carefree, completely oblivious islanders and tourists.  Those innocent people, all thousand or so of them, wouldn't have stood a chance . . .

Six men are wounded and standing, three are down, and I'm praying the fourth isn't seriously considering taking his last breath as he lies on the deck.  The priest certainly thinks so and is already administering the last rites.  Three years ago, when I was only an acolyte of the Order, I would have too. 

One of the demons has ripped the poor man's belly open and more than a few internal organs are visible and mingling with all that blood.  It's a mortal wound to the average human hours and miles away form the nearest hospital.  Even worse, he's wearing a wedding ring and the priest has taken out his wallet – which proudly displays the photos of six children ranging from a boy in his early teens to a toddler.  

"Father," I begin humbly.  I respect priests of any faith, even when they look like a street thug.

"Yes, child?"  He looks at me as if he's not sure if even I- the girl who can kill thirty demons with a single strike- can take care of this wound.

"I can save him."  My tone is cool and confident.  _"Elemental spirits of healing water, I call on you . . ."_

Á  À       Ã      À  Á

"You can call on us any time you want, Lady Sakura."  Fernando says softly just before I step off the _Seraph_ and onto Mallet Island.  "You have more than earned it."

This is the first real time I feel like I'm worthy of that title.  


	4. Chapter 3: Disobeying orders

Don't bother suing me. I have nothing you want.

Disobeying Orders 

Author's note: Yes, I am still alive. cringes Don't hurt me! I didn't like how this chapter turned out, so this is a rewrite.

_I love her. _Kaun appears calm on the outside, but a storm is raging inside him. _I always have, I always will._

_Mallet Island will kill her._ A dark and chilling voice rises from the back of his mind. _The demons are pitiless. They will tear into her soft, sweet flesh and feast on her while she is still alive, unable to move or fight, her blades lying broken beside her._

The voice is smiling as it sends him the gruesome image of his beloved Sakura lying defenseless as a pack of hungry demons closes in, snarling with hunger.

_No! _The image is too much. _I will not lose her! _

_The day you place that ring on her finger will be the day she dies. _The voice laughs hideously. _All of your work will be for nothing. What is an engagement ring to a dead girl?_

An image of her on the funeral pyre, wearing the ring, his last gift.

Tears well up in grey eyes. _I _will not_ lose her!_

_You will._ Cruel laughter. _You already have._

The tears fall. The little red velvet box is cutting deeply into his palm.

Finally, the long-buried defiant streak awakens, roaring to life. This is the part of him that was so happy to retaliate when the other children called him a freak.

    

"Oh, no." Highwayman knows full well what the look on Kaun's face means. "What're ye up to?"

No answer as the white-haired sorcerer strides out the front door, tools in hand.

From the living room, Utamaru groans. "Aw, man! He's gonna do it!"

James "Highwayman" McCaulley, sighs. "We all know that look too well."

"Our week has just gone to hell in a handbasket," Utamaru grimaces, " 'Cuz you know someone's gonna have to keep his head attached to the rest of him."

"We'll get plucked for certain." Highwayman has gotten attached to the three shokoku phoenix feathers affixed to the hilt of his trusty sword. "I'll lose the white one first."

"Time to pack your bags and buy some tickets."

    

Kaun grew up around the shrine and is an unofficial priest. No one takes it as strange when he walks in and goes straight to the spell chamber. In the past year, he's mastered the art of time travel spells and communicating with the families of summoned swordsmen.

Still, the spells required for time travel and communication are quite difficult. They also require hours to cast properly – time that he doesn't have. Sakura could conceivably be inside the castle by now, taking on only Buddha knows what. Her family has to know about this.

    

After three very tiring hours of casting, Kan finally gets through to the Tachibana family. His heart is quite heavy. On one hand, this is a direct disobedience of orders, if not outright manipulation of the ones he desperately wants to make his in-laws. On the other hand, this may just be enough to save the life of the woman who can't live without.

"Tachibana-sama," He addresses Ukyo, " I bring news that you may not want to hear."

The entire family is clustered around the mirror, their usual morning activities interrupted. Kei stands with a brush in her hand, interrupted from brushing the knots out of Suzaku's hair.

Ukyo and Kei brace themselves for the worst news a parent can hear. Behind them, hot-blooded Sasame is bristling.

He draws in a deep breath before continuing. "Sakura has been sent to Mallet Island alone."

Kei's shoulders shake slightly. This is worse than hearing that her eldest will not come home. It means that she may never see her daughter again, living or dead. None of the dead of Mallet have ever been recovered.

Sasame loses his last bit of cool. "I'll come through and kill every last demon!"

The old fire lights in Ukyo's eyes. "You will not be alone."

With those words, Kaun opens the portal.

    

"How many tickets did you get?" Highwayman isn't fond of flying, but it's the only way to get there.

"Five." Utamaru replies. "Ukyo and Sasame aren't going to just let Sakura go there alone."

"How long's the flight?" Neither of them is keen on long flights or the jet lag that comes with them.

"Three and a half hours, movie included, I might add." Utamaru grins. "Our ferry leaves half an hour later."

"Bless ye." Short flight, and a timely ferry. "When's the planer leave."

"Ten-thirty." That's two hours from now.

    

Half an hour later, Kaun walks into the house with Ukyo and Sasame.


	5. Catching Up

                             Catching Up (Or More on the Characters and Plot So Far)

Lady Krimson here.   I noticed that my loyal reader was wondering what was going on after Kaun's devious side showed itself.    

Well, Kaun is a sorcerer of time, justice (although he kinda sucks at it), and storms and one of the trusted sorcerer/priests in Shainto.  

His biological mother was Kuryama Anata, a sorceress/high priestess of the shrine who had more than a few "admirers".  Though Kaun was adopted by Narazu Gengoro, the rumors concerning his biological father still fly - and everyone on Kounoshima has a theory to go along with the rumors.

To put it mildly, Kaun's pale skin, icy-white hair and cold gray eyes match his personality quite well. At least externally.  The truth of the matter is that Kaun's emotions are quite volatile if left to themselves.  However, his powers tend to respond to his emotions.  A lifetime of too much discipline and control has made him seem very cold and uncaring.  Which is why Sakura has made him single, yet he pursues her with a ring in his pocket.

Highwayman is a three hundred-year-old Immortal who doesn't look a day over thirty.  There's only one way to kill him - cut off his head.  (Not recommended- even Kaun's a bit nervous when our favorite Irishman gets pissed off.)  He tends to be the loremaster of the group and can order anything from take-out to plane tickets online- and in twelve different languages.  

Utamaru is a werewolf of unknown parentage (he got dropped off on the orphanage doorstep when he was a day old) and the rowdy one.  He and Kaun are friendly rivals and when they aren't giving each other half their paycheck because they lost a bet, they're usually hammering each other on a video game of their choice (they've been playing _Socom II _ lately).

Tachibana Sasame absolutely idolizes his older sister and is a lot like she was at age fifteen- hot-headed, hot-blooded, and eager to prove himself to anyone who thinks he isn't worthy of his surname. 

As for Tachibana Ukyo, he hasn't changed much in the twenty-three years since (relative) peace descended on Japan.  Although if you want to see him lose his temper, go after his wife and children.  Although going after a vampire kensai is usually considered suicide.

And Kaun, through his desire to protect and propose to Sakura, has dragged them all into this.  If things go one, at least one of them will wind up dead.  (If it does, you - dear readers- decide who I whack and (possibly) how they die. And I assure you; at least one character isn't leaving Mallet Island.)


	6. Got Skills snippet

Got  Skills?

"Want one?" I ask, knowing full well that Dante's a sucker for these things as I open the package, but one of us has to be coy.  Buddha knows _he_ isn't!  (And Buddha forbid that he ever should be.  ^_~)

"Sure." He replies.  I hand him a (wrapped) piece.  Wonder if he's going to show off this time.  

I certainly will, though!  Wonder if he'll catch on to the subtext . . . Currently, he's oblivious . . . 

Chi snickers naughtily, knowing full well what I intend.  

Alastor shoots her a strange look.  _"Are you out of your mind, woman?" _No reply.   

_"I have heard far worse than those pathetic things you call insults."_  Chi has a liking for acidic remarks where the devil sword is concerned.

"Hey, Alastor,"

_"What?"_ Apparently, our favorite electrical sword was _stung_ by Chi's last remark.

"Either quit flirting or get a room." Dante's comment will earn either well-received silence or the hilarity of outraged spluttering from the demon sword. 

_"Why, you!" _And we have the outraged spluttering amidst Chi's giggling!

 I pop the second piece into my mouth and let the fun begin, (gently) working tongue, teeth, and fangs around the wrapper to Dante's surprised expression.  Chi's giggles turn into a giggle fit.

I spit out the wrapper with a look of satisfaction.  Slightly blushing amusement overtakes a certain half-devil's surprise.  Subtext received!  If I can do _that_ with my mouth, what else can I do with it?

A devilish grin.  "Beat this."  He's showing off!  Woo-hoo!

 Alastor has stop spluttering.  _"Is this a rite of courtship among their kind?" _He asks a certain angelic ice blade, completely clueless to the meaning of this.

Chi bursts out laughing, leaving Alastor scratching his etheric head.

Dante sticks his tongue out of reveal the Starburst wrapper – now folded into a _crane_!

There is no possible way to hide an expression like mine- a mixture of utter amusement, appreciation for those skills, and pure naughty curiosity!

Chi gets herself under control. _"Yes, Alastor, that is a rite of courtship!"_

Anyone remember that Starburst commercial from about five years ago – the one where the guy and girl have fun with the wrapped Starburst?  I've had this idea rattling around in my head since then- I just needed two characters bold enough to flirt in (relative) public like that!  And this may be written into a later chapter if you guys really like it.


	7. Chapter Three: The Search for Dante

Chapter Three:  the Search for Dante

_"How the _hell_ are we going to find Dante in this place?"_ It's been three hours and Suiken's already pissed off.  Apparently, Taint makes her very irritable- and this from a water sword!  _"Damned castle's big enough to hold Kounoshima and Gairyu with room to spare!"_

I know what she means.  Three hours of going from room to room and scrambling from my weapons at the slightest sound will start to fray anyone's nerves.  It doesn't help that whoever happens to be in charge of this damned (literally) castle has put a nasty hex on me.  Chi's working on the curse, but it's taking a while and until it breaks, I'm not going to have any real fun.

I've gotten used to powerful demons and devils putting some pretty rude hexes on me, but this is by far the worst of anything I've ever experienced.  The best way to describe it being falling-down drunk mixed with a bad blood hangover and utter disorientation.  I can barely keep my balance, I want to barf, and my senses are so badly distorted that the columns around me seem to be waving obscenely and even the marionettes seem like a major threat until I'm actually fighting them.    Even if I could communicate with Dante, I'd have a snowball's chance of finding him by aura.

The only thing that keeps me from having a freakout when I sense them is the telltale noise they make when they appear. It's not something I like hearing, mind you, but it's a huge relief to hear what seriously resembles the initial tuning up of a violinist coupled with the clicking or wooden puppet wrists and the metallic _shing!_ of blades being drawn.  When I get my hands on the bastard in charge around here . . . 

Violin being tuned up, clicking wooden wrists, and a sound I've known for as long as I can remember.  And Chi has a (possible) solution to the hex.  __

_"They are immune to Nelo Angelo's curse by virtue of their Taint."  _Chi's been around a lot longer than Suiken andknows how to handle almost anything._ "If you drink some of their blood, the curse may break.  Although it'll taste absolutely awful and your fangs may hate you for a while." _Now I've got another reason to throttle the hell-spawned bastard!

Fortunately, marionettes aren't what you'd call bright.  Their main strength is the numbers they come at you in.  They won't see it coming –especially if  you appear weak and helpless.

Bloody maris have more of the vital curse-breaker I need.  And here comes one right now, stupid as hell and eager to dye its clothes with my vampire's blood.  Hope biting it's not gonna be like the Shinai (kendo stick) Incident. I don't remember much of the match -thanks to my busted fangs and the knot on my head afterwards - but I've seen the video Highwayman shot.  My mouth is wide open as I go in to give Utamaru a bout-ending whack.  He freaks out and I eat kendo stick before I hit the floor, in full K.O.  A cry of horrified dismay from Kaun and something in Gaelic as Highwayman drops the camera.

My knees "buckle" as the stupid puppet dives in for the kill. Bite the shinai and get the blood out of it. . .  

I'm on my feet in an eyeblink and hauling it up with me as I rip into its throat from behind.  Blood.  Lots of it.  And not a drop worth drinking otherwise. 

The puppet starts dying as soon as I rake my fangs into it.  Apparently, the bite of a good (? -I'm not sure if my alignment has anything to do with it.) vampire is instantly fatal.  It takes serious strength to hold it still as it jerks and twitches, let alone use it to block the flying daggers that would have gone right through my lungs.

Drop the puppet, senses clearing rapidly, and draw Chi and my right-hand gun.  __

_"Oh, so I'm second-class!" _Suiken's distinctly pissed at me.  _"Now I see how you are!"_

_ Can it._  I'm not in the mood to deal with a water sprite with a bad case of PMS right now.  Especially not with the aftertaste of what I just drank reminding me that I'm a discriminating (very picky) blood-drinker for very good reasons.  I would rather drink from a week-old corpse (which would kill me on the spot) than do that again!  Sour, rotting, sulfuric, ass-tasting  . . .!  _YUCK!_

I slaughter all three dozen marionettes in record time as I run to find the nearest ralphing area or a tall glass of holy water and anything that will wash that out of my mouth. And Suiken's enjoying my reaction to that godawful shit!  Remind me to stick her right above the stove for a week when I get back home, Chi.

Looks like a room to recover in through the next door.  At least I'm not feeling the immediate need to throw up anymore, thanks to a certain angelic sword.   Wonder if she can summon holy water.  I've got about two dozen bottles of heavily sugared blood (the equivalent of Code Red and sold in certain shops as Vampire's Pop) to take the taste out of my mouth and make it leave me alone.   

Sure enough, Chi summons up some very high-quality holy water and I happily take it with the sugary blood.  The taste leaves – something that seems like a blessed event.   

The room has a vintage plane in it that looks like it hasn't flown in a while.  It doesn't look like it'll fly anytime soon, either.  Which is a wicked shame, because I might need it to find Dante in here.   I should have paid more attention to that American bush pilot from about the same era as the plane when he invited me to watch him fix his baby.  Wonder if it's his plane?  Throughout points in Shainto's history, a grandmaster's gotten the bright idea to clean up the castle that time forgot.    And there are more than enough demonslayers – young and old- eager to prove that they're the best.  Which entails cleaning up Mallet Island.  

Stay focused on the task at hand.  Focus in on Dante . . . More specifically, the trail his aura leaves behind.  Everyone, especially the most powerful of demonslayers, leaves an aura trail behind.  In Dante's case, it's a very powerful, distinct, and mesmerizing trail that seems to tease you by begging you to come and get its source.  To tell the truth, it's part of why I'm hot for him- just a small part, but a part nonetheless. 

There it is!  That brilliant dragonfly trail has the fade that marks it as being a few hours old.  To the alcove where broken and slashed suits of armor lie nearby.  Then, heavy on the rune marker that bellows Taint so loudly it should be affecting the air in this room, but it doesn't. 

If someone as logical as Kaun tried to analyze the quirks of this castle- even the ones _I've _seen so far-  they'd go nuts.  After sitting neglected (by humans) for a few hundred years, anything organic should be a rotted mess and there shouldn't be much of a castle to run through.   When Hell decide to claim the castle, time, physics and whatever else happened to be here at that point had decided to leave.

One option- obviously.  Whack the living shit out of the runic dial and go down into the pit full of something-probably marionettes- that I won't really break a sweat on.  _ Suiken, if you can take these boys, consider yourself back in my good graces._

More marionettes and bloody maris in the lower level.  Not a challenge in their usual numbers, but there looks to be at least a hundred of them coming through their trademark red portals.  Chi, Suiken, we're gonna get a workout!

I jump off the platform as soon as it lowers enough for me to perform a marionette-thrashing diving strike.  Better to start it off with a bang than do it like a normal and suffer the same fate when they close in all around you.   I'm not scared, but there's always the voice in the back of my mind that tells me what could happen if one of them gets a hit on me. Especially in these numbers. 

Slashing, ripping, diving, narrowly avoiding flying blades and shotgun pellets, I kill twenty of the things before they start to group up around me.  __

_"Behind!"  _Chi's voice sounds inside my head as a marionette goes in for my unprotected back.   Ringing crash and a __

_ Let's try a little something new, girls.  _I've certainly got enough blood-dripping red orbs to do it._ Suiken, you and me are both water and Chi's ice.  Why don't we freeze these bastards, then make some ice sculptures?_

Chi and Suiken give etheric nods, grinning wickedly.  

Carve, slash, _rip_! Three of the demonic puppets fall dead. Chi and Suiken are revving up to use the plan we've come up with.    

Whoa! Time to blow off some heads if I want to keep breathing!  These boys are getting too close!  The blades go back into their sheaths as the Berettas leave their holsters.  

Bullets chew their way through bleeding wooden skulls.  _You ready?_  I ask.

_"Not yet."  _Suiken is still working on the charge she needs. _"I wanna typhoon these bastards!"_

_"Save that for when we really need it."_  Four millennia older, Chi knows when to hold back and when to go all out.  _"I'm ready when you are, Sakura."  _

Leave it to Chimaburesakura to be able to calm down the hotheaded Suiken. (Gotta wonder if that girl's got a firestorm sprite somewhere in the family tree!)  

_Blam!_  The bloody mari I assumed to be their leader has its head explode in a cloud of red mist and flying splinters form a well-placed shot.  Oh, shit!  That did it!  They're _pissed_!

_Now would be a good time!_  My back touches the wall.   I think I'm gonna die here . . .

Next thing I know, I've replaced my guns and my blades have taken their places.  Every last one of the fifty or so marionettes is a puppet-shaped block of solid ice.  The floor and the walls of the pit-trap sport an icy coat to eye level, and the girls are whooping and cheering.  

_"Let's do some ice carving!" _Suiken's all about the ass-whooping and wants to have some fun.

Chi's in agreement- but for different reasons.  _"The quicker we finish this, the quicker we can find Dante."_

We tear through the demonic popsicles with ease, grabbing red orbs on the way as we dart towards the platform that takes us back up.  

Dante's close – but something's wrong.  Seriously wrong.  

I smell his blood- and a lot of it.  Don't let me find a silvery-haired corpse at the other end of this corridor. . . 

"Dante!"  I call, praying that he's still alive somewhere and he can hear me.   If I can find him, it may be all right. . . 

I nearly slip in the pool of blood near the carving of the Judge of Death.  Dante's . . .

_"Be calm."_ Chi senses me on the verge of freaking out.  _"Focus on the aura trail again."_

It looks like the Judge should be holding something- or _held_ something. 

Then the aura-memories plow into me – series of images and fragments of sound. __

_The sculpture is different – a woman in agony with a sword piercing her chest – a devil sword with a dragon hilt. _

_It speaks in a voice similar to Kaun's, but infinitely icier and more malevolent. _"I am Alastor.  The weak will give their hearts to me."

_The blade flies out at Dante's chest spearing him directly through the heart._

No . . . __

_A missing spot –it's only a few seconds, but it seems like an eternity. Somehow, Dante survives and claims the electrical sword for his own._

I snap back to reality, where I've rudely dropped both my swords and Chi's speaking to me again. _"Follow the aura trail."  _

Right! Back down the corridor- to the yellow door standing roughly at the halfway point.   Dante went through it.  

"Let's go." I pick up my weapons and dart off up the corridor.

_Okay, guys- your choice.  Do I keep you in suspense with another Shainto chapter and wait for input on how awkwardly Sakura and Dante should meet or do Sakura Chapter Three:  _An Awkward Meeting?  _It's all up to you!_


End file.
